I'm so thrilled and honored to be featured in Gym Source's Trainer Spotlight. I enjoyed the interview process because it gave me an opportunity to put into words how I view fitness, what my training philosophy is and why I do what I do.

You can read the full article here. But in a nutshell, I want you to know that fitness is a journey. You will have successes and you will have setbacks, but the most important thing is to keep moving forward.

Personally, my setback was when I was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis back in January of this year. I used the injury to educate myself more about it and to find a way back to health in a safe manner. In the process, I learned more about the human body and about myself. We are strong and resilient. Our bodies are such amazing, healing machines!

Also, successes and setbacks are what life is about... it's how we deal with them that builds our character. Just remember, nothing is permanent... not the good... not the bad... really, nothing. Everything fluctuates... and that goes for your weight, too.

Speaking of weight, I will write on this on my next blog post because as consistent as I am, my weight fluctuates... and that's normal! Right now, I'm at a higher body fat percentage but I am okay with it because I know that that can change once I put a plan into action. Honestly, I'm not in a mindset to do that right now so I'm holding steady with my workouts and eating as clean as I can (I really suck at the latter).

Check out the article! And if you are looking for gym equipment or trying to set up your own home gym, I can help! I know people. Hahaha. Gym Source has been my go-to for 9 years now. Their service is top notch and they carry the best products.

If you are feeling like you want to take the first step towards your health but don't know where to start, reach out to me! I'm here to help. Come workout with me and find out how strong you are... you are way stronger than you think, you know.

It's been 2 whole months since I was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis. Looking back, I feel really blessed to have healed so quickly and fully. Special thanks to my family, friends and my church family who have continued to pray for me and have given me so much support. I love you all.

When I got the clearance to start working out again, I wasn't sure if I could get back to my previous fitness level. Then a thought occurred to me... what if I got even stronger? Then another thought encroached on that... what if I don't?

Well, what if I don't? What if where I land is even better than where I was before? Hold that thought.

Just so you know my back story, I've always been very active. I figure skated as a kid, danced, and was a cheerleader in high school. Always moving. Then in college, I ran and did the dreaded Stairmaster. A lot. For you young ones out there, this isn't the stairmill you see at the gyms today. There were no revolving stairs. Just two steps that went up and down. Up and down. Oh, so boring but I loved the sweat it produced!

After college, I got my black belt in Hapkido and then went back to figure skating to see if I could get my jumps back. I did. Then when I got a job, a real job that required me to wear grown up clothes, I joined the company gym. I still have fond memories of that gym because I met some of my closest friends there (hi Bonnie & Alan!). I became a "cardio queen" at lunch, running anywhere from 5-7 miles every day and coming back in the evening to lift. I wasn't lifting seriously back then. Just going around and doing the machines and being social.

My serious lifting began after my second baby. A year after she was born, my husband enrolled both of us in a gym and got us a trainer. At first, I didn't want a trainer. I just wanted to do my cardio. But after a few sessions with her, I was hooked. I mean, obsessed. I trained 4-5 days a week for almost 7 years! My trainer was really great. She gave me the basics with great form and then some. But as life happened, I had to leave her and moved into my basement gym.

My sweet family

I asked you to hold that thought, "What if where I land is even better than where I was before?" So while I was training really, really hard for those 7 years, it wasn't without some sacrifice. I prioritized my fitness really high on my list of things to do every day. Not very helpful for family life. Not only that, working out at such a high intensity took its toll on my back. Some days, I'd get out of bed hunched over almost 90-degrees. Not cool.

As I reflect back on my fitness journey, I am really proud of what I've accomplished but now as an older and recently injured woman of 45 years, I see the value of preserving my health and joints. Don't get me wrong... I love me some high intensity workouts! I love to challenge my body and sweat... but now I know when to say enough and when to take some time off and enjoy life. "Balance, Daniel-san." One of my all time favorite movies... can you name it? Fine, it's Karate Kid. I loved Mr. Miyagi.

So wherever I land in my fitness journey, I'm actually okay not being as strong as I was before and I am totally at peace with the fact that my body can't handle consecutive intense workouts like I used to be able to do. This acceptance thing came with me kicking and screaming but you know, once you get through that stage, it's freeing. I see every workout I get to do in my gym as a gift. I really do. If you follow me on Instagram, I'm always encouraging you to move, sweat and enjoy... because until you can't, you don't realize how much you take movement for granted.

I don't know if you've heard of rhabdomyolysis but it's a no joke injury that happened to me. Mine is called exertional rhabdo as it was induced by an intense workout. When you push your muscles too hard, it can cause your muscle fibers to basically die... which releases protein (myoglobin) into your blood stream. Your kidneys cannot handle this overload so the worst that can happen with this condition is renal failure. Thankfully, my kidneys weren't affected at all, even with my creatine kinase (CK) level at 34,000 (normal range is anywhere from 22-198).

After doing some research, I think a couple of things contributed to me getting rhabdo. One, I think I may have been a little dehydrated. Rhabdo loves dehydrated muscles. Two, mine happened from a CrossFit bootcamp class (third time I've tried CrossFit - also, not saying CrossFit is bad, please don't misunderstand. I'm sharing my story and what happened to me in detail.). The workout was completely doable for me as I've had this kind of a workout before, but I think it was the way it was structured. We did 35 reps of many exercises but they were in "chipper" style - I didn't know what that meant either but it's when you complete all 35 reps before moving onto the next exercise. I've only experienced doing workouts at CrossFit (the other two times) where you break up the reps into doable chunks and coming back to finish the exercises as many times as necessary to complete the reps. Anyway, I think the two exercises that did me in were the pull-ups and push-ups. All in all, I did two rounds of everything. I thought I was listening to my body but when you love the adrenaline of a good, go-all-out kind of a workout like me, sometimes too much of a good thing can be... well, too much.

Hospital stay is no fun

I was hospitalized for 5 days where the only treatment was IV fluids being pumped into me. My numbers went down steadily. I was released with a promise to my hospital doc that I would follow up with my primary doc. I've been out of the hospital two weeks and one day now and I see my primary once a week to get my blood work done. Just yesterday, my CK came back at 120! Yippee!!

Thursday was my first day back in the gym. I still cannot use my upper body as my doc wants to make sure my muscles heal completely. I'm just grateful that I get to move at all! It was so awesome being back in my basement gym, my sanctuary.

I wanted to share this story because some of you may be searching the internet for your weird swollen arm or leg at the moment. Mine started out as sore arms where I couldn't straighten them all the way. I thought, "Oh, it must have been a good workout." The workout was on a Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday, I tried to do a light workout for my upper body to loosen it up and just focused on spin and legs. By Friday, I had full ROM but that's when I noticed the swelling. It took almost 3 days for the swelling to show up on me. I still didn't think it was rhabdo (I didn't get the dark urine that is one of the symptoms of rhabdo) so I iced it and took some Advil. By Sunday, the swelling moved down below my elbow (sooooo not right) and that's when I went to the ER.

If you go to ER (which is a great idea), let them know that you want your CK level checked. Be persistent! My ER doctor and nurse didn't believe me. They said they've only seen rhabdo in the elderly (when they fall and stay in that position for hours) and trauma victims. Well, to their surprise, I diagnosed myself correctly and they were shocked at my CK number.

First day back in the gym after 3 weeks... so happy!

Rhabdo is rare... but I really believe that with intense workouts, plus the mentality of pushing harder these days, it may not be as rare as it used to be. While I was in the hospital the first night, someone reached out to me from his hospital bed having just been admitted with a CK level of 44,000. Then I got a text from an old friend who saw a guy get rhabdo from a Murph workout at CrossFit. Then on Facebook, I read someone got it from spinning. You can get it from almost any exercise you do... if you are pushing too hard, a bit dehydrated... things just lined up for me perfectly to create a perfect storm.

If you are like me and love to workout, push a little hard (or a lot!), please keep this in the back of your mind. Listen to your body and step back if your body says no. And please hydrate. Like all the time!

I hope and pray that my story can help anyone who is experiencing rhabdo symptoms. When in doubt, go to the ER!!